CO2 Scrubber vs Kalkwasser

[Potatohead]

Been banging my head against the wall for a few days now, have read a bunch of old threads. I have been dosing two part (bicarb) for five or six years, pH fluctuates between 7.85 - 8.05, maybe 8.1 depending on time of day. My sole intention for this is to raise pH.

I already own a bunch of kalk from years ago. Ideally I would use a reservoir and dose with a dosing pump. I do not have any spare heads on my doser so I would probably buy a single head Kamoer or something. (As a side question, is the tubing ok with kalk high pH?)

CO2 scrubber seems easy enough but I just hate committing to endlessly buying consumables. Very mixed reviews on this also. I also don't really suspect the CO2 in the house is all that high. 3000 square foot house with only myself and my wife, a medium sized dog and cat. Furnace does have a fresh air intake.

I guess I should probably just set up a kalk drip each evening for a week or two to see if any positive change...

Thoughts?

 

[gurthystag]

C02 media is relatively cheap I use a scrubber myself. I'm in favor because I can control when to open and close the selenoid that feeds air through it based on my ph probe. Its completely automated and it gives you complete control over your ph. Kalk will work but it's more work in my opinion and less control. C02 media is basically pelletized kalk.

 

[Potatohead]

I think work- wise it shouldn’t be that much different. Assuming I can get a couple weeks out of a kalk reservoir, I need to top off ato reservoir anyway so it just adds a couple minutes.

I’m just not convinced my house has high enough co2 to make a big difference. If it wasn’t -10C outside I would do the aeration test to check.

 

[gibbers]

My tank is in the basement I use both

 

[wtdenk]

I currently run a similar set up to what you're describing and had the same concern with adding a new reoccuring cost with co2 media. I use a Kamoer to dose kalk each hour with the bulk of it dispensing overnight. I have a Co2 scrubber that kicks on when my ph drops to 8.0 and turns off at 8.1. During the winter it kicks on each night. During the summer it never turns on due to lower co2 in the house with windows open. With it only running when necessary, I don't replace the media nearly as often. Happy with results.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Been banging my head against the wall for a few days now, have read a bunch of old threads. I have been dosing two part (bicarb) for five or six years, pH fluctuates between 7.85 - 8.05, maybe 8.1 depending on time of day. My sole intention for this is to raise pH.

I already own a bunch of kalk from years ago. Ideally I would use a reservoir and dose with a dosing pump. I do not have any spare heads on my doser so I would probably buy a single head Kamoer or something. (As a side question, is the tubing ok with kalk high pH?)

CO2 scrubber seems easy enough but I just hate committing to endlessly buying consumables. Very mixed reviews on this also. I also don't really suspect the CO2 in the house is all that high. 3000 square foot house with only myself and my wife, a medium sized dog and cat. Furnace does have a fresh air intake.

I guess I should probably just set up a kalk drip each evening for a week or two to see if any positive change...

Thoughts?

There’s a ton of posts on this so I know it’s confusing. Some people buy a co2 monitor on Amazon for super cheap and are surprised how high the co2 level actually is. For me, it was easier to open some windows. If the ph goes up, then maybe a co2 scrubber will be of benefit, if it doesn’t go up then maybe not. Co2 media can add up over time. Smaller tanks and less co2 in the house and it will last a month or so, larger tanks and higher co2 you might only get five days….which was my experience. Buying fifty pound bulk co2 media makes it a lot cheaper, but it can get old having to deal with keeping up. For some, just running a line from the skimmer outside or to the attic or crawl space has the same effect and there’s no upkeep. I ran mine up to the attic and stopped using my co2 scrubber altogether. There’s also a test on here that Randy has a write up on, where you place a cup of tank water outside for a length of time and retest the ph. I would search for that and see if it helps you. Kalk is great and people love it. There are thing to be aware of as accidents can happen that trigger overdoses. There’s different ways of dosing Kalk. Search and see if you feel comfortable with it. Hope I didn’t make it more confusing for you.

 

[TokenReefer]

Have you tried keeping your alk higher to lessen the swing?

 

[spsick]

Kalk is worlds cheaper than co2 media, especially if you already own it. For me co2 scrubbing was an expensive headache and the media requires constant changing.

Have you considered switching from bicarbonate to soda ash? Gives a better pH boost and you dosing will be the same otherwise.

 

[Jonty]

I live in a 9000 sq/ft house with just my wife and I, we do not have a CO2 issue I have a co2 monitor and CO2 levels run 490-520 24hrs/day.
I added a recirculating co2 scrubber with solenoids to control the pH and I can hold 8.3-8.4 24hrs a day and the media lasts 6-8 weeks. Before I added the scrubber pH was 8.0-8.15.

 

[Potatohead]

Have you tried keeping your alk higher to lessen the swing?

I've thought about it, but hesitant to change it. I do run my alk low though, in the high 6's which clearly doesn't help. Maybe if I try adding some kalkwasser dosing I'll let is rise naturally a bit. I did set up a drip last night with the goal to slowly drip about half my daily top off to start and do that for a week or two and see if any change.

Kalk is worlds cheaper than co2 media, especially if you already own it. For me co2 scrubbing was an expensive headache and the media requires constant changing.

Have you considered switching from bicarbonate to soda ash? Gives a better pH boost and you dosing will be the same otherwise.

This would probably be the ideal solution, but I use the Fauna Marin Balling Light system which contains trace and all that and again I am hesitant to change because it works well.

 

[TokenReefer]

I've thought about it, but hesitant to change it. I do run my alk low though, in the high 6's which clearly doesn't help. Maybe if I try adding some kalkwasser dosing I'll let is rise naturally a bit.



This would probably be the ideal solution, but I use the Fauna Marin Balling Light system which contains trace and all that and again I am hesitant to change because it works well.

6 is on the low end as you probably know and higher alk will buffer against the ph swing if I understand the science correctly and seems like since you are maintaining alk anyway bumping it up (slowly) into a better range would be the easiest thing to try first imo.

 

[doubleshot00]

I use a recirculating co2 scrubber and its been a game changer. I tried kalk and it did nothing for ph.

Ill say this i have two small 20lb dogs and they create enough co2 that I notice it on my APEX when we are gone for the day. So if i take my dogs with me to work vs leaving them home.

A co2 scrubber is just another gadget to have but I couldn’t get my ph above 7.9. Now its 8.4 for the high and 8.2 for the low.

 

[doubleshot00]

I've thought about it, but hesitant to change it. I do run my alk low though, in the high 6's which clearly doesn't help. Maybe if I try adding some kalkwasser dosing I'll let is rise naturally a bit. I did set up a drip last night with the goal to slowly drip about half my daily top off to start and do that for a week or two and see if any change.



This would probably be the ideal solution, but I use the Fauna Marin Balling Light system which contains trace and all that and again I am hesitant to change because it works well.

Kalk doesn’t raise Alk very well. Imo i would get that to at least 8 then dose kalk to hold it there.

 

[TokenReefer]

Can I ask a question? Excuse my ignorance, but what issue does the ph swing cause? I get the mechanism and I see poeple constantly try to correct it but I've yet to come across the negative effects. Is it just so dosing doesn't change? Seems like an apex should be able to adjust for that but I don't have one so idk

 

[TokenReefer]

Kalk doesn’t raise Alk very well. Imo i would get that to at least 8 then dose kalk to hold it there.

Purely dependent on quanity dosed I'd imagine....

 

[Potatohead]

Can I ask a question? Excuse my ignorance, but what issue does the ph swing cause? I get the mechanism and I see poeple constantly try to correct it but I've yet to come across the negative effects. Is it just so dosing doesn't change? Seems like an apex should be able to adjust for that but I don't have one so idk

I'm just looking to increase overall pH with the goal of increasing growth, I'm not so concerned about the actual pH swing. My tank is mostly successful but my growth has always just been decent. Like, the colonies pictured below for example are I guess about 3-4 years old, except the hammer in the background has been halved about three times.

I did run a chaeto fuge twice, opposite to the main lighting. Both times the chaeto grew very well for 4-5 months and then slowly died away. My assumption is the tank ended up too low in some trace element like iodine or iron or something.

 

[14 foot reef]

I tried both the CO2 Scrubbing and the Kalk top off method doing reverse lighting cycle while "lights off" dosing the 24 hour amount of total topoff evap needed..

THe CO2 was way too expensive and a complete hassle.

By far the Kalk is the easiest and most cost effective. but you will possibly need to increase evaporation if your consumption of alk and calcium can't keep up with Kalk alone.

 

[TokenReefer]

First. Tank looks great!

I'm sorry I thought this was a diurnal PH swing issue. Lol, that's my fault. So your main concern is simply steady ph while photosynthesis is occurring?

Well with a 6 dkh you have a ton of room to bump that up and (from my reading) will hand in hand increase your growth.

From your post I can't tell if you're dosing by hand or dosing pump. By hand you'll always have a swing I imagine unless you walk over at regular intervals and deliver precise amounts. Running the kalk through ato will certainly produce swings as it gets put in

 

[Potatohead]

First. Tank looks great!

I'm sorry I thought this was a diurnal PH swing issue. Lol, that's my fault. So your main concern is simply steady ph while photosynthesis is occurring?

Well with a 6 dkh you have a ton of room to bump that up and (from my reading) will hand in hand increase your growth.

From your post I can't tell if you're dosing by hand or dosing pump. By hand you'll always have a swing I imagine unless you walk over at regular intervals and deliver precise amounts. Running the kalk through ato will certainly produce swings as it gets put in

I have a doser. If I run kalk long term I'll set it up on a doser and probably only dose the 12-14 hours opposite to the lights. I'm leaning towards trying that for a few months and if it doesn't do much, then try a scrubber.

 

[TokenReefer]

Good strategy. I think the ph scrubber having the least affect (compared to kalk) could maybe be used to flatten the peaks in your tracking. Obv will take some dialing in